Eat Like Ushi

There's only so long you can go without Vietnamese food after living in multiple areas that serve it so easily, cheaply and tastily. The trio of Cay Tre, Mien Tay and Song Que are well known here and so it sounds like I'd eventually eat at them all anyway.

The menu is extensive of the staples and describes each dish well. They don't have che ba mau, so if you're reading this, add it to the menu!

- Shrimp & Jellyfish Green Mango Salad (with Vietnamese mint, perilla, garlic chips, vinaigrette, prawn crackers) £8.5 - a small serve but a delicious array of flavours and textures bound together by a mild nuoc mam dressing;
- Original Pho (with steak & brisket) £11 - this is my standard aka Pho Bo Tai Nam. Rare fillet slices are added to the hot broth to slightly cook and not-too-fatty brisket is a bit firmer and meatier. The broth has a nice spiced flavour, without being too strong and MSG. It's strange that despite the menu saying so, they don't give any sawtooth herb or Thai basil unless you ask for it. Maybe because it's expensive. So only the people that know will ask and get it;
- Bun Bo Hue (with beef & pork hock) £12 - a nice broth with good shrimp paste and lemongrass tones. Usually it needs to be a bit more fiery red (from either annatto seeds or chilli sate) but this simpler one allowed the flavours to come through nicely. It usually comes with lettuce and laksa leaves, but not so here.

Once I accept the prices, I'll probably enjoy it more and eat Vietnamese more frequently. Until then, it's an occasional necessity. I wonder how the others in the area compare?

Apparently Manchester has the 3rd largest Chinatown in Europe. London is probably 1st but I'm not sure which is 2nd. Nonetheless given there aren't really any typical local Manchester foods then any excuse for Asian was a good one. Funnily most of the well reputed ones are on the very expensive side which I wasn't really up for - although Tattu does look good if up for it - or Cantonese which I think is less exciting than other Chinese cuisines.

I wanted to go to Red Chilli for Szechuan but the Chinatown branch was closed so Hunan seemed somewhere else nearby and of regional cuisine. It tends to have more braises, stirfries and smoked meats. Apparently it can be fiery hot but not too much here. I tried to select what would be Hunanese dishes, as they do serve Cantonese and other bits of fare too (including for some reason pho...)

- Chairman Mao's Red Braised Pork £7.8 - not nearly as glowing red as the picture in the menu, a warming dish of savoury pork;
- Stirfried Hunan Smoked Bacon with Garlic shoots £9.8 - really delicious smoked salted meat with garlic shoots adding texture and differing flavour. It was marked as a spicy dish and the chillies added heat but not too much;
- Stirfried Cucumber with Salted Egg Yolk £8.8 - I like the salted duck egg added to deepfries and so it was good to see it with a vegetable dish. The cucumber was somewhat crunchy and not the soft squishy texture usually associated with cooked cucumber. The egg yolk coating wasn't very salty but still fine;
- Steamed & Deepfried Northern Buns £6 - I reminisce about the deepfried mantou buns from a now-closed restaurant in Melbourne who served the delicious things with crisp coats and layers of mantou bread slivered underneath. These were much less flavoursome and exciting and next time I'd probably just get rice instead.

It was a decent meal other than the bread. I do still prefer the heat of Szechuan or the cumin of the north.

The street food scene in Manchester seems to be blooming and actually most of the interesting places to eat seem to be dirty food. Almost Famous, Luck Lust Liquor & Burn, Hip Hop Chip Shop seemed to some of the options up north as was the highly reputed Northern Soul.

It's a stall converted from essentially a garage where toasties are continuously pressed and flipped and filled.

Pig On A Lead £6.5 is made with 4 cheeses and tender 9h BBQ pulled pork. Surprisingly the cheeses together aren't all that strong in flavour although they do make a nice congealed blob that is fun to pull through. Perhaps adding something light blue or vintage would bring out the cheese impact.

Nonetheless a good find.

I'd read a bit about Brighton's restaurants. I didn't expect that they would be so difficult to get a lunch spot on a Sunday. Apparently the small amount of options, the not-much-else-to-do and the weekend local diners and tourist visitors all come together. One person in the party was vegan which also made it that little bit more limited.

Terre-A-Terre and 64 Degrees were full. The Salt Room, Murmur and Jack & Linda fish smokers were inappropriate. So cheap curry was the order of the day.

Lal Mass? The last time I saw you was when you burnt my face off... (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/handi-jaipur-01-2015).

- Hyderabadi Biryani (marinated boneless chicken pieces, basmati rice, fried brown onions, South Indian spices with yoghurt raita & mirchi ka salan) £11.95 - a decent rice dish with tender chicken. Not too heavily flavoured;
- Lamb Lal Mass Thali (British lamb shoulder slow-cooked in yoghurt & onion sauce balanced by red chilli) served with lemon rice, naan, parsnip & onion pakora, daal makhani, vegetable thoran, tomato & black pepper rasam, beetroot raita, poppadum & pineapple chutney £10.95 - a whole mixture of things of average quality. The daal was quite watery, the curry wasn't spicy at all and the rest were relatively standard.

A staple curry lunch but I prefer my London ones more.

Some friends have lived in Shoreham-by-Sea (and Brighton) for many years and took us out for dinner. I therefore didn't bother researching any places in the area but this seemed a good choice.

The menu is French-inspired seafood and the bouillabaisse caught my attention the most. Luckily it came also as part of a platter...

- Smoke House Fish Board - we only ordered the Sussex smoked mackerel pate but they generously extended it to include a side of smoked trout and slices of smoked salmon on rocket. All the smoked elements were delicious and reasonably strong;
- Farmer's Market Vegetable Board £11 - a slight variation on the menu with arancini on beetroot, white asparagus, artichoke, pickled red pepper, cheese and large olives;
- Fruits de Mer £40 - bouillabaisse in a mild creamy sauce, mussels in white wine & cream, beer-battered fish with some of the best (probably triple cooked) chunky chips I've ever eaten, dressed crab with delicious roe, moderately strong rock oysters, smoked salmon.

The food quality was very good without any being particularly outstanding (other than the chunky chips which were incredible).

Dessert was 3 little dishes of creme brulee (one serving) which was unexpectedly served very cold.

A satisfying meal overall.

There's a good number of old ye English pubs around this area of Bow. Morgan Arms, Coborn Arms and The Victoria. Someone at work mentioned their favourite was The Lord Tredegar so on a Tuesday night we ventured on down. It seemed to also be coincidentally pub quic night and you could hear the loudspeaker mentioning things in the main dining room. I was quite content in the front bar section where everyone queues up to order their food and drinks but otherwise is quieter.

The food is very standard pub style.

- Fish & Chips (beer battered line caught haddock with tartar, mushy peas, chunky chips) £13 - a thin fillet of fish that wasn't that juicy in a soft fried crumb with light seasoning. The mushy peas were a tiny serve that resembled wasabi on a sushi plate;
- Steak, Ale & Caramelised Onion Pie (Malcolm's secret recipe) with creamy mashed potato & greens £13.95 - the pastry was crisp but quite thin and so didn't have any of the chewy thick buttery texture I prefer. The filling was nice without being significant.

This is standard pub food to me. It took 50mins to arrive also. I think the only other pub I've tried in the area so far (Morgan Arms) is more expensive but better cooking and more modern dishes. The atmosphere is very pleasant but with the decor and available card and board games, even with Morgan Arms similar wait (30-40mins last time), I'd have to give that the nod from now on.

No it isn't the Cafe East that is reputed for Vietnamese food in London. This is the local Cafe East along the up and coming (or nearly there) Roman Road in Bow. Even though there are quite a few cafes in the area, I've yet to really experience many. This was an unusual Sunday brunch on a warm day, and it was surprising that not more people weren't out here. Maybe they were off in the park instead.

Their forte is probably pancakes as there is a dedicated menu for them. Even though the other dishes don't sound overly exciting, the do them damn well. This may well be my favourite standard breakfast in London so far. And the prices are cheaper than anything other than fried chicken and kebabs in this town.

- Eastern Pan £6.5 - an egg, a juicy portobello mushroom, a slightly old looking cumberland sausage, lovely grilled cherry tomatoes, really excellent really strong flavoured (not smoked though) bacon and some standard baked beans. The presentation in a frypan is just right;
- Potato Pancake £6.9 - 2 nicely salted potato cakes with squeaky grilled halloumi, excellent delicious spicy beef sausage, sliced avocado and 2 poached eggs (I prefer slightly runnier but it's fine). Perhaps a little salty overall but just plain tasty.

They unfortunately don't have much in the way of smoothies but there is some fresh house OJ at least.

I'll definitely be back for breakfast again.

I've always thought Sushisamba to be the poor cousin (but more expensive one) to Duck & Waffle. After all, D&W has a higher floor, a better view from the inside (I think so anyway) and is open 24hours. On the other hand, Sushisamba offers a Japanese-Peruvian mix culminating in Kobe beef at up to £1000 and sushi rolls with gold and caviar. Whatever it is you're going for I suppose. I'd heard similar stories from friends which had thus dissuaded me to go until recently for a friend's 30th birthday.

The excitement of getting stopped and denied entry by the overly important security staff downstairs is the same. The exhilarating glass lift up is also the same. Both venues have nice drinking areas and it seems SS has a better outdoor one complete with an ornate orange tree. There's also blankets to keep you warm on the outside whilst the alcohol does on the inside. The drinks are definitely on the more expensive side with cocktails at £13-14 to cover the cost of the view.

Pistachio & Avocado Batida (fresh avocado puree, Velho Barreiro cachaca, pistachio orgeat & cacao) served with cone of maize cancha £14 was nice and refreshing without a strong alcohol taste but with only very mild flavours of pistachio and avocado. Extra avocado to make the texture thicker would have been very welcome.

The food hall itself is also interestingly decorated with masses of dangling light globes. I'm not sure what motif it is but I approve.

- Edamame (soybean, volcanic salt, lime) £5 - simple and plain topped with strong black salt;
- Wagyu gyoza, kabocha puree, sesame snow £15 - simple without any benefit from wagyu or any real sesame flavour from the snow;
- Nikkei salmon ceviche, tamarind, sesame, seaweed, macadamia £14 - thick salmon coated by an even thicker tangy and savoury sauce. Really good;
- El Topo samba roll (salmon, jalapeño, shiso leaf, crispy onion, spicy mayo, fresh melted mozzarella) £12 - mozzarella went well with this roll adding extra umami to the layers of ingredients. Good textural contrasts also;
- Tiger Maki samba roll (takuwan, wasabi tobiko, crab meat, tempura prawn, tiger prawn, wasabi mayo, beetroot yogurt, soy reduction) £16 - a good read of ingredients that seemed to blend in together;
- Sea Bass Tempura (heritage tomatoes, beetroot ceviche, aji verde, lime) £29 - a beautifully presented dish with otherwise mild flavours;
- Corazon de Pollo (aji panca) served with Peruvian corn £12 - my choice of dish was my favourite. Chicken hearts excellently grilled with big kernels of corn. Simply excellent method of using an otherwise maligned cut of meat;
- Chocolate Banana Cake (maple butter, plantain chip, vanilla rum icecream) £10 - moist textured cake that was overpowered by the strong syrup sauce.

The food tastes quite good. The ingredients are probably of high quality. But I can't help feeling I'm spending way too much for the view and to be with the cool crowd of people continuously taking selfies. I can see what they are going for and I don't think it is for me.

To celebrate Mr. Hyde's National Burger Day on August 24 (I'm sure it's made up just for self promotion, but I suppose I was suckered in), there was a widespread discount of 20% on burgers throughout London. It made it difficult to choose between so many, but for a year I had my eye on the Mac Daddy at Dirty Bones. Considering I had to be at Liverpool Street Station in the late afternoon, there was no better reason to make it there.

It's an unexpectedly nice pub which contains many soul references including the music to go with it. The food is NYC inspired and nearly everything reads delicious and unhealthy.

The Mac Daddy (brisket & dry aged steak burger topped with pulled beef short rib, mac & cheese, cayenne & coffee-spiked BBQ sauce) £11 was actually smaller than I anticipated but still an impressive sight to behold. The oozing mac & cheeze and BBQ sauce laid contrast to the two textures of beef. The beef was flavoursome and quite seasoned (but not to the typical overly-salted American style) and cooked to medium without request. The rib added a different texture but not much extra flavour. The mac & cheese was similarly so and without any strong umami cheese as you get from the best part of the cheese crust.

I was still a little hungry so opted to finish with the Crispy Lamb Fries (with sweet miso, red chilli & jalapeño) £6.5. The lamb was surprisingly sweet as I expected it to be more savoury as I've never had an overwhelmingly sweet miso before. It has soft texture but was not crisp/charred as I had hoped. The chilli added a very nice touch and the fries were delicious even alone.

Overall it was a decent burger at the upper end of cost and some good fries to accompany it. I will definitely try to return in an evening to take advantage of the excellent sounding cocktails, the old school music and supplement with The Burger (normal one) or Crispy Fried Chicken.

10-2017

On a Tuesday evening at 915pm it was good to see Dirty Bones open, playing soul music and serving good food.

The lamb fries were ordered again and even though they had the same sweet and soft texture, the fries were very good and I enjoyed them more overall than last time.

Buffalo hot wings £10 with Frank's hot sauce and extremely mild blue cheese sauce were tasty and nicely cooked. Beef short rib £16 was extremely tender and flavoured with cayenne & coffee BBQ sauce. Chicken & waffles £11 were exactly as you'd expect, although the chicken wasn't too strongly seasoned. The crisp coating and waffle was complemented by the sweet maple.

It was a good (large) meal for two. I'd happily go back. The Grown-Ups Jaffa (El Jimador Reposado tequila, Mozart dark chocolate liquer, orange syrup, chocolate bitters & marmalade ice cube) £10 was excellent, sweet and not too strongly alcoholic. Next time the Spiked Iced Coffee would be good to start the night (or the day).

Hidden by an unmarked entrance on an otherwise quiet East London backstreet was Bistrotheque. I discovered it's a French cafe/restaurant (I suppose the name is suggestive) and coincidentally or not the wait staff were mostly seemingly French too. There's a piano in the corner and on this morning, a lunchtime musician started playing his melodic version of classics such as Britney "Baby one more time".

The menu reads quite nicely. There's a bit of chaos within the structure and the ingredients belie French upon other influences - souffle, black truffle, foie gras, tartare with labneh, cornbread and chorizo. Suffice to say many of the items sound excellent. The eggs and pancakes seem to be the best value, as the mains do tend to be quite highly priced.

- Bistrotheque Breakfast (sausage, bacon, Boston baked beans, layered potato, eggs, toast) £13.5 - remarkably good layered potato (as a modern version of hash brown), strongly flavoured crisp bacon, some nice beans, and a poached slightly vinegared egg was served with toast. The sausage looked rather wrinkled but was adequate.
- Black pudding £4 - I had this as a side to my breakfast but unfortunately it was below par. The flavour was too minimal and had none of the rich pork meat, fat & blood that it is supposed to;
- French toast, berries, almonds, Chantilly cream £9 - a beautiful dish decadent in sweetness and colour. Not overly sweet with unnecessary syrups but using berries instead for the breakfast treat.

Other than the black pudding and the lack of smoothies/juices (I suppose they aren't typical French brunch items), the other two were very fine starts to the day. I think the only other options I'd consider as breakfasts would be the cauliflower, mojo verde, smoked almonds £17 or tomato tarte tatin, goats curd, crispy shallots £17, whereas heavier lunch options would be more suited to later in the day.